Paul Vargis
TyThe Aquarian Gospel of Jesus Christ is a new age text that reimagines the Jesus narrative as a universal spiritual journey that ties together eternal truths. It is not a reimagining in false, but touches into intuitive pieces of the story, mystery pieces that gnostic/mystic writers have been answering in “non-canonical” writings for centuries.
It is a story of living into and out of the love of the Holy Mystery. It is the story of how this attunement removes the ego of individualism that destroys self. The journey from birth to death…the reasons behind the assassination of the peasant labourer become travelling mystic rabbi can be found in the Sermon on the Mount/Plains. This is a journey reflection for the sojourner on these passages as channeled by Levi H. Dowling (1920) in his work:
Prayer is the deep communion of the soul with God;
-Aquarian Gospel 94:2
Meister Eckhart said if the only prayer you said was thank you that would be sufficient. It is true, for it is in these moments of deep oneness that words become irrelevant, for we empty ourselves of the ego that allows for injustice to reign.
Deception is hypocrisy, and you shall not assume to be what you are not.
-Aquarian Gospel 94:18
Yet it is Ignatius of Loyola that gifted us with the Lectio Divina the sacred reading of hearing the sacred words three times to see what the Holy was saying to us.
This is a bit more than hearing of three times, for it is taking time to become contemplative, to enter the story. To rest within that which gave us life, and learn what it means to live out of and through that love.
Take a moment to reflect on the continuing Sermon on the Mount in
Chapter 95:
The Sermon on the Mount, continued. Jesus pronounces the eight beatitudes and the eight woes. Speaks words of encouragement. Emphasises the exalted character of the apostolic work.
1. And Jesus and the twelve went to the mountain top, and Jesus said,
2. Twelve pillars of the church, apostles of the Christ; light-bearers of the sun of life and ministers of God to men:
3. In just a little while you must go forth alone, and preach the gospel of the king, first to the Jews and then to all the world.
4. And you shall go, not with a scourge of cords to drive; you cannot drive men to the king;
5. But you shall go in love and helpfulness and lead the way to right and light.
6. Go forth and say, The kingdom is at hand.
7. Worthy are the strong in spirit; theirs the kingdom is.
8. Worthy are the meek; they shall possess the land.
9. Worthy they who hunger and thirst for right; they shall be satisfied.
10. Worthy are the merciful; and mercy shall be shown to them.
11. Worthy they who gain the mastery of self; they have the key of power.
12. Worthy are the pure in heart; and they shall see the king.
13. Worthy they who are maligned and wronged because they do the right; their persecutors they shall bless.
14. Worthy is the trustful child of faith; he shall sit in the throne of power.
15. Be not discouraged when the world shall persecute and call you curst; but rather be exceeding glad.
16. The prophets and the seers, and all the good of earth, have been maligned.
17. If you are worthy of the crown of life you will be slandered, vilified and curst on earth.
18. Rejoice when evil men shall drive you from their ways and cause your name to be a hiss and by-word in the street.
19. I say, rejoice; but deal in mercy with the doers of the wrong; they are but children at their play; they know not what they do.
20. Rejoice not over fallen foes. As you help men rise from the depth of sin, so God will help you on to greater heights.
21. Woe to the rich is gold and lands; they have temptations multiforms.
22. Woe unto men who walk at will in pleasure’s paths; their ways are full of snares and dangerous pits.
23. Woe to the proud; they stand upon a precipice; destruction waits for them.
24. Woe to the man of greed; for what he has is not his own; and lo, another comes; wealth is gone.
25. Woe to the hypocrite; his form is fair to look upon; his heart is filled with carcasses and dead men’s bones.
26. Woe to the cruel and relentless man; he is himself the victim of his deeds.
27. The evil he would do to other men rebounds; the scourger is the scourged.
28. Woe to the libertine who preys upon the virtues of the weak. The hour comes when he will be the weak, the victim of a libertine of greater power.
29. Woe unto you when all the world shall speak in praise of you. The world speaks not in praise of men who live within the Holy Breath; It speaks in praise of prophets false, and of illusions base.
30. You men who walk in Holy Breath are salt, the salt of earth; but if you lose your virtue you are salt in name alone, worth nothing more than dust.
31. And you are light; are called to light the world.
32. A city on a hill cannot be hid; its lights are seen afar; and while you stand upon the hills of life men see your light and imitate your works and honour God.
33. Men do not light a lamp and hide it in a cask; they put it on a stand that it may light the house.
34. You are the lamps of God; must not stand in the shade of earth illusions, but in the open, high upon the stand.
35. I am not come to nullify the law, nor to destroy; but to fulfil.
36. The Law, the Prophets and the Psalms were written in the wisdom of the Holy breath and cannot fail.
37. The heavens and earth that are will change and pass away; the word of God is sure; it cannot pass until it shall accomplish that where unto it hath been sent.
38. Whoever disregards the law of God and teaches men to do the same, becomes a debtor unto God and cannot see his face until he has returned and paid his debt by sacrifice of life.
39. But he who hearkens unto God and keeps his law and does his will on earth, shall rule with Christ.
40. The scribes and Pharisees regard the letter of the law; they cannot comprehend the spirit of the law;
41. And if your righteousness does not exceed the righteousness of scribe and Pharisee you cannot come into the kingdom of the soul.
42. It is not what man does that gives him right to enter through the gates; his pass word is his character and desire is his character.
43. The letter of the law deals with the acts of man; the spirit of the law takes note of his desires.
Which 3-5 verses resonate with your soul this day? Take those 3-5 verses as your Lection Divina contemplation today.
Rest comfortably into your chair, slowly begin a rhythmic deep breathing. Slowly feeling your surroundings slip away. Replaced by the sounds of the gathering on the mount. Sounds of children playing, animals bleating, dust blowing. Feel the grass and sand. The strong baritone voice of the rabbi you have come to hear, that others are talking of, resonates throughout the gathering of multitudes.
Upon your first reading of the verses. Sit with them. What words stick with you. Take that phrase or word and spend time with it.
Slowly enter the second reading with that word still there, what image leaps from the page? Spend time with this image? How does this image tie to the word/phrase that came before?
Prepare your heart for the finally hearing. The word/image have set the stage. In this third hearing, what walls have broken down? Pieces of ego removed? The words of the sermon on the mount so shook society…how has it shook you? What step of faith are you going to take to live out this teaching: Today? This week? This Month?
The seventh is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God; remember it and keep it wholly set apart for works of holiness; that is, for works not for the selfish self, but for the universal self.
Men may do work for self upon the six days of the week; but on the Sabbath of the Lord they must do naught for self.
This day is consecrated unto God; but man serves God by serving man.-Aquarian Gospel 96:25-27
A Monk's Musings 